Star in the Shetlands: Star Refrigeration

Star Refrigeration, a corporate member of the IIR, has equipped Shetland Catch Ltd. with new blast-freezing equipment, raising the capacity from 200 to over 750 tonnes per day. Shetland Catch's plant near Lerwick is now probably the largest pelagic plant in the world. The pelagic fish (herring and mackerel) processed is exported, mainly to Nigeria, Japan and Russia. Two large trawlers can now berth and unload simultaneously, whereas previously the plant could only handle one load at a time. A traditional two-stage ammonia plant design was used. The plant now comprises 10 blast freezer chambers, each with an area of roughly 100 m². Four colossal Grasso compressors with a suction swept volume of 4900 m3/h have been added to the existing three models. The total installed capacity is 5400 kW at -40°C suction pressure. Another feature: each screw compressor is controlled by a Simatic PLC and linked to Star's latest Telstar control system, providing full colour graphics and data logging.